


The Language of Love

by CaramelShipper



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-27
Updated: 2020-06-27
Packaged: 2021-03-04 03:08:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24936580
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaramelShipper/pseuds/CaramelShipper
Summary: Bucky never thought he’d find the love of his life during the war, let alone in another country. The only problem? They didn’t speak each other’s language.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Original Character(s), James "Bucky" Barnes/Original Female Character(s)
Kudos: 11





	The Language of Love

**Author's Note:**

> There are lines that are going to be in French and some others **(in bold)** that mean they are said in French. The idea of this is that the ones in French are in that language so we - like Bucky - have no idea what they mean. The ones in bold are written in English but are meant to be said in French, because Bucky speaks a bit of French now. 
> 
> I have NO IDEA when the war ended in the MCU, but here it ended after they captured Zola. Bear with me.

“Did we really need to hide here?”

“Yes, Buck. Hydra is said to have a base somewhere between Paris and this village, and hiding in Paris would be too obvious, so…tiny village it is.” 

Bucky sighed and took a drink from his beer, looking around the tiny bar/tavern they were sitting in. After Steve told him that he got word of a Hydra base in the middle of nowhere, Bucky was the first in line to destroy it. The problem is, he wasn’t expecting to hide out in a village with a population of less than 500 people. They’ve been there for around 3 days and have not found the base.

Bucky groaned and left a tip at their table, getting up to leave, Steve getting up as well. Since the village was too small, the whole army couldn’t go, so this was a mission only for the Howling Commandos.

“Are you sure the base is somewhere around here? I don’t know, man, but La Roque-Gageac, Dordogne, doesn’t seem like a place Hydra would be close to.”

“We’ll have to look around…” Steve started, but Bucky stopped listening as he stepped out of the bar. In front of him, across the street, a girl was sweeping the floor outside the bakery. She was wearing a brown button up shirt tucked in a khaki skirt, that stopped just below her knees. White socks folded at her ankles, clad in clearly worn out shoes. Her hair was long and straight, a small wave to the long ash blonde locks. She had a small button nose, covered in freckles. Thick eyebrows framed the most beautiful pair of eyes he’s ever seen – green with an amber like center - and then, she looked up.

He felt as if the world had stopped moving right at that moment. The only people in the world were them. She wiped the sweat from her forehead, and – as if on slow motion - turned and looked right at him. And she smiled. And God, was it the most beautiful smile. He swore he felt his heart skip a beat. He couldn’t stop staring. He knew he had to, but he couldn’t stop it. Even when he realized she didn’t smile at him, he loved watching her smile. He kept staring as he walked, hearing Steve’s muffled voice on the background, calling his name.

“Buck!” Steve said, a hand on Bucky’s shoulder and shaking him around.

Snapping out of it, he turned to Steve. “Yeah?” He asked.

Steve gave him a confused look, then turned to look at where Bucky was staring at, a knowing smile making its way to his face.

“She’s pretty.” He said, smirking. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Bucky scoffed. 

Steve rolled his eyes at his friend, but let the subject go. They both had a meeting to go to.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Steve decided they had to stay for at least two more weeks at the village, to plan how to enter the Hydra base, and to be honest, they weren’t all in the best of shape. So, they stayed.

Bucky entered the bakery one day, and he was so happy to see the girl behind the bar. There were loafs of bread behind her, the oven making the whole store feel warm. The smell of freshly made bread flooded the place, and there was flour on the table in front of her.

She turned to look up at him when he stepped in, and sent that beautiful smile his way. Her hair was put up in a low ponytail, and there was flour on her face.

“Bonjour.” She said, her smile never leaving her face.

“Bonjour.” He said, wincing at how atrocious his accent made the word sound, but it was worth it after seeing her giggle.

“Qu'est-ce que vous voulez prendre, monsieur?” She said.

Oh boy, Bucky thought. He didn’t speak French.

“Um… I- I don’t…” He started.

She looked at him with wide, confused eyes, not really understanding what he was trying to say.

“Do you.. um… do you speak English?” He asked, but she remained silent, giving him the answer he didn’t know he didn’t want. He groaned on the inside. This was going to be more difficult than he thought it would be.

“My name is Bucky.” He said, pointing to himself and speaking slower than he normally would. After she stared at him with an even more confused look, he pointed to himself again. “Bucky.”

Apparently that seemed to work, because she exclaimed a small “oh!”

“Lèa.” She said, pointing at herself. Bucky smiled, stretching his hand in front of him. She took it in her smaller one, and Bucky lifted it to his lips, kissing the back of her hand. 

This made her blush, and Bucky found her even more adorable than she already was.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Dernier, I need your help.” Bucky said entering the room where Dernier and Steve were going through some maps of the surrounding area.

“Oui?” He said, closing the book.

“I need to learn French.”

Steve barked a laugh at that. “She doesn’t speak English, does she buddy?” He asked through a laugh.

“Shut up, punk.”  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bucky sighed and looked up at the wooden sign above the door. After 6 days of non-stop lessons, Dernier felt Bucky was ready to face the music. But if you asked Bucky, he wasn’t even close to ready.

His hands were sweating and his knees were shaking under him. He has never felt this nervous before in his life, not even when he was leaving for the army. 

“Come on Barnes, you can do this.” He muttered to himself before taking a deep breath and looking at the door.

“Here goes nothing.” 

The sound of the bell above the door as it opened made her look up from the dough in front of her, hair in a messy bun at the top of her head, flour specks covering her nose, apron and hands. And smiled at him. Her whole face lit up the moment her eyes set on Bucky, and he swore he felt his heart start beating faster.

“Bucky! Tu es revenu!” She said, cleaning her hands off on her apron. He smiled at her, walking towards her, feeling his hands trembling as he now stood in front of her. 

He took a deep breath and took out the small flower he had inside the breast pocket of his shirt, giving it to her and absolutely loving the way her eyes went wide and how her nose became even more pink than before.

“Merci.”

Thank you. That much he knew.

“Bonjour, mademoiselle.” He stared, his accent atrocious, but that got him her full attention.

“Oui?” She replied, a small smile at her lips.

 **“Would you like to have dinner with me? There’s this really nice restaurant near the house I’m staying at.”** He said to her in broken French, not taking his eyes off of her.

His heart was beating a mile a minute. She was staring at him with wide eyes, biting her lower lip, clearly trying to keep herself from laughing.

Then she let out a laugh and didn’t seem to be able to stop, covering her mouth with her hand. Bucky was too embarrassed to notice how cute her laughter was, a blush spreading its way from his neck to his ears. 

His eyes looked down, his shoes suddenly the most interesting thing he’d ever seen. But he looked up when he heard her voice.

“Yes, **I’d love to have dinner with you.”** She said. ‘Yes’ was said in English.

Bucky coughed out a laugh, smiling at her.

“You… you speak English?” He asked her.

She shrugged her shoulders and looked down, smiling up at him with a gleam in her eyes.

“Un petit peu.” A little bit.

 **“Can I pick you up at 7 tonight? Here?”** He asked.

She nodded her head excitedly, lower lip still between her teeth.

“Oui-Yes. That would be… um… trés bien.” 

They both kept staring at the other, silly lovestruck smiles stuck to their faces. Bucky made his way out, walking backwards.

“I think I’d better go.”  
Just when he thought everything was going perfect, he missed his footing and tripped, almost falling to the floor but catching himself on the edge of the door.  
Léa laughed, gently shaking her head sideways.

“See ya tonight.” 

“Au revoir.”  
\-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------  
And he did pick her up at 7 sharp. He wore his uniform - the only clothes he had with himself - but didn’t put on his army coat. She was wearing a beautiful blue dress with black kitten heels. Her hair was down in small waves, and her make up was natural, except for the red lipstick she was wearing. And man, did Bucky’s heart skip a bit.  
Bucky behaved like the gentleman his mamma raised him to be. He opened the door for her, pulled out her chair, and walked her home by 9. And against what his heart was telling him, he didn’t kiss her. 

That date became two dates. Then three. If he didn’t go see her at the bakery - because he still needed to plan with the Commandos how to find the HYDRA facility - he took her walks around the village’s square or by the river, both practicing and taught the other their language.

On date number three, he held her hand as they walked. And on date number five, while they were walking by the river’s edge hand in hand, he leaned down and kissed her lightly on the lips.

Without even realizing it, Bucky had been at La Roque-Gageac for almost 3 weeks. And he was deeply in love with Léa. But all good things come to an end.  
\------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Guys.” Steve said in his Captain America voice.

The Commandos all turned to their leader; ready to act.

“We found the facility. We leave tomorrow morning.” With that, he turned and left. The rest of the Commandos went back to what they were doing, but Bucky couldn’t. He didn’t want to leave, but he had to. It was his duty.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He and Léa were sitting down by the edge of the river, shoes off and feet in the water. She had her head on his shoulder, his arm around her shoulder.  
He took a deep breath. The silence around them was so comfortable. The only sound they could hear. 

“Doll?” He said, to which she hummed in response.

It was now or never.

“I’m leaving tomorrow.”

He felt how Léa tensed up. She lifted her head off his shoulder and looked at him with wide eyes.

“You… you are leaving?” She said in a small voice that broke Bucky’s heart.

“Oui, doll. We… um, we found what we were looking for. We’re leaving tomorrow morning.”

“I’ll write to you every day.” He said, making her smile.

“I’d really like that.” She said through a teary smile. 

Bucky kissed her forehead and wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight against him. He didn’t know if this would be the last time he’d hold her, and he wanted to make it last forever.

After a moment, she let go of him and laid her head on his shoulder again, her arm wrapped around his waist.

"What's Brooklyn like?" She asked, in broken English.

"You'll love it, doll." He replied in broken French, the only word in English the pet name. "It's not as pretty as this place, definitely more people, but it feels like home."

"I hope I can see it someday." She cuddled up to Bucky more, the impending truth of tomorrow's events making itself more and more apparent.

They both stayed silent for a while, enjoying each other's company, when Bucky broke the silence.

"Marry me."

 **"Pardon?"** She asked, backing up a bit to look up at him.

"Marry me. When the war is over, I'll come back for you and we'll go to Brooklyn."

"I... I don't know, Bucky..."

"Come on, doll. I love you, you don't have anyone here. You can have a life in Brooklyn. A life with me. Please? I promise I’ll get you a ring when I come back.”

She stayed quiet as she looked at him with wide eyes, not knowing how to respond. Yes, she did love Bucky, but she wasn’t sure if she should marry him or not.

Sensing how uncomfortable he made her, he took her hand in his.

“Think about it, and tell me tomorrow morning before I Ieave. How does that sound?”

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Howling Commandos stood on the outskirts of the village, waiting for the truck that’ll get them out to their next base. They were talking amongst themselves, but Bucky was anxiously tapping his foot and looking around the area.

“She’ll come, Buck.” Steve said behind him, coming to stand next to him.

“I seriously hope so, punk.” He mumbled, clenching his teeth when he heard the truck arriving, but no sign of Léa.

“Okay guys, lets go.” Steve said, giving Bucky a pitiful look as he turned around to face the rest of his men. They were all getting up on the back of the truck one by one, Bucky waiting for his girl to come say goodbye, but after a few more seconds he sighed and turned around.

“Hey Barnes,” Dum Dum said, smirking at Bucky. “You have a visit.”

Bucky turned and saw how Léa ran as fast as she could towards him.

“Bucky!” She shouted, making him get off the truck and run towards her, enveloping her in his arms, picking her up and twirling her around when he got to her.  
Placing her back on the floor, he took a step back but kept his hands on her hips, smiling at her and trying to commit her face to memory.

“Bucky…” She said, taking deep breaths.

“Yes, doll?” 

“You better come back, I want to see Brooklyn with you.”

His eyes went wide, his smile was so big his cheeks hurt. 

“Are… are you serious?” He asked, to which she responded with a bright smile and nodding.

“Oui, Bucky. I… I’ll marry you.” 

Bucky laughed and pulled her closer, her nose nuzzling in his chest. He kissed the crown of her hair, their arms tight around each other.

He then pulled back, just to leaned in and kiss her hard, too excited to control himself. He felt her laugh into the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck. He also could hear the cheers from his teammates behind them.

He parted from the kiss, kissing her nose. “I’ll come back for you, I promise. And I’ll give you the most beautiful ring, doll. You can count on that.”

Her smile grew wider, tears prickling in her eyes. “ Je t’aime, Bucky.” 

“Je t’aime, doll.”  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been around 6 months since Bucky left La Roque-Gageac with the rest of his team, and he wrote to Léa every day. He told her everything about his life - except details about the missions, just in case the letters got intercepted - and he never forgot to tell her just how much he loved her.

She missed him so much, but her letters helped her feel a little bit at ease. She was worried, yes. But receiving a letter every couple of days calmed her nerves. It meant her Bucky was alive and well. 

One night, she was finishing cleaning up the bakery, ready to close for the day, when the bell at the door rang.

“Je suis désolé, mais nous sommes fermés pour la nuit. Revenez demain.” She said, not taking her eyes off the tabletop she was cleaning.

“And here I thought you’d miss me, doll.” 

Léa turned up so fast her neck almost hurt. In front of her stood her soldier, uniform clad and hair all over the place. But he was alive.

“B-Bucky?” She stuttered, eyes wide in shock and getting teary.

He nodded and smiled. “Oui, doll. I’m back.” 

As fast as her trembling legs could take her, she ran around the table and into his arms, wrapping her arms around his waist and sobbing into his chest.

Bucky wrapped his arms around her shoulders, one hand running through her hair as she cried.

After what felt like forever, she pulled back to look at him, not believing he came back for her.

“Wait,” He said, letting go of her for a moment and trying to get something from his coat’s pocket.

“Here, I gotta do it right, don’t I?” 

She looked at him with confusion in her eyes as he got a small box from his pocket, kneeling down.

“Léa Beaumont, **will you marry me?”** He asked as he opened the box, a simple silver ring with a small rock in its center sitting inside the box.

Léa let out a laugh, wiping her tears with her right hand as she nodded, giving Bucky her left hand for him to slip the ring on.

Standing up, he held her again,tighter this time. kissing her lips.

As they pulled apart, they smiled at each other with gleams in their eyes.

“Come on, doll. Let’s get your stuff. We’re going home.”


End file.
